62 Uplifting Quotes About Change

Change is an important but sometimes difficult part of life—and if you’re going through it, we’re right there with you! Whether you’re experiencing the start of a new chapter or the end of a past one, reading famous and inspiring quotes about change can help you feel less alone and more at peace with the shifts in your life. Below, you’ll find a complete list of quotes related to change, growth, and transformation. We also asked leadership coach Corey Andrew to share some of his favorite quotes and why they’re important to him.

Popular "Change" Quotes

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton
“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.” – attributed to Marilyn Monroe

Section 1 of 8:

Short Quotes About Change

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“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Oprah Winfrey

Meet the wikiHow Expert

Corey Andrew is a leadership coach based in New York City, New York. He co-hosts the popular celebrity gossip podcast "Naughty but Nice" and is the former host and producer of "Motivational Mondays," a leadership podcast.
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“Change brings opportunity.” – Nido Qubein

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“Tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure.” – Indya Moore
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“Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.” – Amanda Gorman
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“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” – George Eliot
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“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
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“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
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“Change before you have to.” – Jack Welch^{[1]
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Section 2 of 8:

Inspirational Quotes About Change

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“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” – Carrie Fisher
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“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
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“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis
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“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall
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“People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Rob Siltanen
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“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
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“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown
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“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead^{[2]
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“It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.” – Roy T. Bennett

Section 3 of 8:

Quotes About Life Changes & New Beginnings

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“Permit yourself to change your mind when something is no longer working for you.” – Nedra Glover Tawwab
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“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard
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“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” – Steve Maraboli^{[3]
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“Recognizing that you are not where you want to be is a starting point to begin changing your life.” – Deborah Day
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“If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” – Kevin Ngo
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“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
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“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
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“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
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“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
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“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates^{[4]
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Section 4 of 8:

Quotes About Change & Personal Growth

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“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
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“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway
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“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” – Abraham Maslow
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“When we’re growing up, there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be.” – Elliot Page
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“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb
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“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy
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“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” – Terry Pratchett
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“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” – Rumi^{[5]
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“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

Section 5 of 8:

Quotes About Changes in Relationships

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“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.” – attributed to Marilyn Monroe
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“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.” – Stephen Chbosky
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“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.” – John Green
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“To say goodbye is to die a little.” – Raymond Chandler
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“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca
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“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
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“Closure is not cutting someone off, it’s about finding peace within yourself.” – Unknown
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“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” – Steve Maraboli

Section 6 of 8:

Quotes About Change and Moving On

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“The only thing a person can ever really do is keep moving forward. Take that big leap forward without hesitation, without once looking back. Simply forget the past and forge toward the future.” – Alyson Noel
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“To move forward, you have to leave the past behind.” – Unknown
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“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” – Steve Jobs
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“The first step towards healing is accepting the reality of what has happened.” – Haruki Murakami
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“Closure happens right after you accept that letting go and moving on is more important than insisting on holding onto something that no longer serves you.” – Tony Robbins
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“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis^{[6]
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“Healing comes in waves and maybe today the wave hits the rocks and that’s okay, that’s okay, darling, you are still healing, you are still healing.” – Unknown
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“Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” – Deborah Reber
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“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.” – Unknown

Section 7 of 8:

Quotes About Change and Success

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“Success isn't about the end result, it's about what you learn along the way.” – Vera Wang
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“Failure is not the opposite of success; it is a stepping stone towards it.” – Sundar Pichai
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“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
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“I would like to think that all of my successes in life are really just the fruit of my failures.” – Yvie Oddly
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“The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.” – Robin Sharma
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“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy^{[7]
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Section 8 of 8:

Long Quotes About Change

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“The kindest thing you can do in life is to accept yourself. When you stop hiding from the parts of you that feel different or imperfect, you take away everyone else’s power. Growth happens when you lean into who you are instead of running from it. If you do the work — the unglamorous, uncomfortable work, then you deserve the success on the other side. There are no shortcuts. Change comes when you’re willing to stand in the rain longer than anyone else.” – Rob Shuter, publicist^{[8]
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Corey Andrew
Leadership Coach

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- Andrew says this quote from his mentor and friend, Rob Shuter, is one of his favorites because it focuses on what real growth actually requires–the courage to evolve, accept yourself fully, and keep moving forward even when it’s uncomfortable.^{[9]
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- “That moment stayed with me because it reflects not only Rob’s wisdom, but how he lives his life and career,” Andrew continues. “His perspective has taught me that real evolution isn’t about becoming someone else, it’s about becoming more fully yourself, embracing change with honesty, and doing the work required to move forward with purpose and confidence.”^{[10]
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“You never really know what path is going to be sitting in front of you. If an opportunity shows up and it looks like something that’s going to challenge you, even if you don’t know exactly how to do it yet —take it! You learn fast, you surround yourself with talented people, and you don’t let fear stop you from moving forward. During COVID, we couldn’t operate the way we always had, so we had to rethink what business we were really in. We realized we weren’t just a restaurant company, we’re an entertainment company with incredible intellectual property. That mindset shift allowed us to innovate, launch new brands, bring our experience into people’s homes, and ultimately change the landscape of food delivery and family entertainment. Growth only happens when you’re willing to evolve.” - Dave McKillop, CEO of Chuck E. Cheese^{[11]
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Corey Andrew
Leadership Coach

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- This is another favorite quote of Andrew’s. He says about this quote, “What stayed with me most was his clarity around change, not as a reaction driven by panic, but as a discipline rooted in courage, flexibility, and forward thinking. Hearing how he led a legacy to astounding new heights through the uncertainty of COVID, reimagining not just survival but innovation, reshaped how I think about leadership during adversity.”^{[12]
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- “That conversation reinforced a powerful lesson: progress doesn’t come from waiting for certainty, it comes from having the courage to adapt even when you think you're not ready,” Andrew explains.^{[13]
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